WTF are they doing? Another project because it sounds cool? Search giant Google on Tuesday pledged to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to make renewable energy cheaper than coal. http://www.news.com/Google-to-enter-clean-energy-business/2100-13844_3-6220341.html
What do you want them to do with all that cash? Either that or they loan it to washington mutual to collateralize debt? I like the google concept of using the cash to improve the world, not just some algorithm. Could you imagine if google struck gold with some facet of energy research and the google we know 20 yrs from today derived 80% of its profit from energy related pursuits? hippies clashing with wall street is entertainment, definitely. but at least they are doing something valuable to society, rather than figuring out a latest way to screw the rest of the world out of their cash (banking, investment, etc sectors).
I see nothing wrong with Google taking some of its smarts and using its clout and dollars to 'incubate' and invest in emerging technologies. If they fulfill their mission of 'do no evil' perhaps they will lead by example. Rabid capitalists always say that capital is better managed by them rather than big institutions and government. I hope Google sees success in the fields of personalized medicine, biotehcnology and now energy. Perhaps if one of these half-baked ideas stick, another Google will be born?
This isnt anything new for google. I read a couple years ago they were funding a startup company with solar technologies.
Google is in a unique position with this new project right now, they have a ton of money, they are a respected and powerful entity that can really push forward new forms of energy faster than any small startup company.